Wiki Revision History

Every wiki page maintains complete version history. Each save creates a revision, allowing you to view past versions, compare changes, understand who modified what, and restore previous content if needed.

Understanding Revisions

What Is a Revision

A revision is a saved snapshot of a page at a specific moment:

• Content: Complete page text at save time
• Title: Page title (if changed)
• Author: Who made the change
• Timestamp: When saved
• Revision number: Sequential identifier

When Revisions Create

New revision created when:

• Page first created (revision 1)
• Edit mode saved with changes
• Restoration from older version
• Import or bulk update operations

Revision Retention

All revisions are preserved indefinitely:

• No automatic pruning
• Complete audit trail
• Storage optimized for text

Accessing Revision History

From Page View

1. Select a wiki page
2. Look at right sidebar
3. Find "Revision History" button
4. Shows revision count (e.g., "Revision History (12)")
5. Click to open modal

Revision Modal

The modal displays:

• List of all revisions
• Newest first (descending order)
• Each entry shows: date, author, summary
• Navigation for long lists

Revision List

Entry Information

Each revision shows:

Identifying Changes

Revisions may indicate:

• "Page created" for first revision
• "Content updated" for edits
• "Title changed" if title modified
• "Restored from revision X" for restorations

Viewing a Revision

Preview Content

1. Click any revision in list
2. Preview panel shows content
3. Read-only view of that version
4. Full page content displayed

Comparing to Current

Preview clearly indicates:

• This is historical content
• Current version may differ
• Restore option available

Comparing Revisions

Opening Diff View

1. In revision modal, select first revision
2. Hold Ctrl/Cmd and select second revision
3. Click "Compare" button
4. Diff modal opens

Understanding Diffs

The comparison shows:

Added content: Highlighted in green Removed content: Highlighted in red Unchanged: Normal display

Line-by-Line View

Diff displays changes contextually:

• Added lines marked with +
• Removed lines marked with -
• Surrounding context for clarity

Character-Level Diffs

Within changed lines:

• Specific word changes highlighted
• Fine-grained modification tracking
• Easier to spot small edits

Restoring Revisions

When to Restore

Restoration useful when:

• Accidental deletion of content
• Previous version was better
• Undoing someone else's changes
• Recovering from mistakes

Restore Process

1. Open revision history
2. Select desired revision
3. Preview to confirm correct version
4. Click "Restore" button
5. Confirm restoration

After Restoration

• Page content replaced with old version
• New revision created (restoration tracked)
• Original versions preserved
• Restoration author recorded

Restoration Is Reversible

Restoration creates a new revision, so:

• You can restore again
• Nothing permanently lost
• Full audit trail maintained

Auditing Changes

Who Changed What

Revision history answers:

• Who last edited this page?
• When did specific content appear?
• What did it look like before?
• How has it evolved?

Compliance Use

For regulated environments:

• Complete change history
• Author accountability
• Timestamp verification
• No deleted history

Team Accountability

Revisions help with:

• Training new editors
• Reviewing contributions
• Understanding documentation evolution
• Resolving conflicting edits

Best Practices

Meaningful Saves

Don't save empty or trivial changes:

• Complete logical units of work
• Avoid "fix typo" commits
• Group related changes

Regular Checkpoints

For long editing sessions:

• Save periodically
• Each save is a recovery point
• Better to have extra revisions

Review Before Restore

Before restoring old content:

• Preview the revision
• Check what might be lost
• Consider copy-paste instead
• Document why restoring

Clean Up Through Editing

Rather than restoring old versions:

• Edit current version to fix
• Keep accumulated improvements
• Selective rollback when needed

Limitations

No Partial Restore

Restoration replaces entire page:

• Cannot restore single paragraph
• Copy-paste for partial recovery
• Manual merge if needed

No Delete Revisions

Individual revisions cannot be deleted:

• Complete history preserved
• By design for audit purposes
• Contact support for edge cases

Large Revisions

Very large pages may:

• Take longer to diff
• Have truncated previews
• Still function correctly

Common Scenarios

Accidental Content Deletion

1. Notice content is missing
2. Open revision history
3. Find last revision with content
4. Preview to confirm
5. Restore or copy-paste

Unwanted Edit by Team Member

1. See change you disagree with
2. Open revision history
3. Find pre-change revision
4. Discuss with team first
5. Restore if agreed

Understanding Evolution

1. New to the document
2. Open revision history
3. Browse through versions
4. Understand how decisions evolved
5. Get context for current state

Merge Conflict Resolution

When two people edited:

1. See unexpected content
2. Compare recent revisions
3. Identify both contributions
4. Manually merge best of both
5. Save combined version

Troubleshooting

No revisions showing:

• New page has only one revision
• Check permissions to view history
• Try refreshing modal

Diff not working:

• Select exactly two revisions
• Check browser compatibility
• Very large pages may timeout

Restore fails:

• Check edit permissions
• Verify page isn't locked
• Network issues may interrupt

Old revision looks wrong:

• Format changes over time
• Content is accurate
• Rendering may differ

Permissions

Revision access follows page permissions:

Some environments may restrict history access.